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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Water & Music

This summer we have played a lot with water while the weather is hot. Besides cooling us off, water is a natural source of music! It makes the prettiest sounds when it splashes and trickles.

Water MusicOne of my favorite pieces of music is Water Music by George Frideric Handel. Handel wrote Water Music in 1717 for 50 musicians to play for King George I and guests while floating down the River Thames. It is a lovely piece. I like to watch it performed by the English Baroque Festival as performers dressed in the style of the day dance in Baroque style.

Water WallA fun way to experiment with water and sound is to make a water wall.

Water Wall

We made holes in a bunch of plastic containers and bottles and zip tied them to an old piece of frame we had left over. We also used funnels and swimming noodles to make curves. It took some time to line up the holes and containers so that the water would drip into the bottom container instead of onto the ground.

We loved how the water flowed through one container into another. And it made the most beautiful sounds!

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This is my favorite part of the the water wall. We put a bunch of holes in the lid of a plastic jar and it would flow into another container. This activity taught about the sounds water made plus a lot of engineering principles!

Water XylophoneA great way to play with water is to make a water xylophone. Fill a bunch of glasses with varying amounts of water. We put food coloring in ours to make it pretty.

Take a metal spoon and tap on the glasses. The different levels of water will make the glasses have a different tone. You can keep them all mixed up or you can put them in order from highest to lowest. The girls made up all kinds of songs with the xylophone. It is a really interesting and absorbing experiment.

Relaxation

There is nothing as relaxing as the sound of water.

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Just imagine the ocean's waves crashing on the beach or a mountain stream trickling through the forest. It is natural music made by water!